Electric brake-controller.



No. 66l,880. Patented Nov. l3, I900. J. c. LINCOLN.

ELECTRIC BRAKE CONTROLLER.

(Application filed Oct. 2, 1899.)

(No Model.)

IkOLLEY I BRAK/A/(r'WHE/vCAR/s RES/5 TANCE ,BRAK/NG WHEN CAR ls Ku/v/w/mFORWARD.

To TRDLLEY CURRENT- RUNNING BACK WARD Moro/2 Nz MoToR /V 1 BRAKE -SH Esv e 6 6 e n 1L wn 7 UNITED STATES PATENT Orrrcea JOHN C. LINCOLN, OFCLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO ARTHUR L. GARFORD, OF ELYRIA, OHIO.

ELECTRIC BRAKE-CONTROLLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,880, dated November 13, 1900.

Application filed October 2, 1899. Serial No- 732,292. (No model.)

T 61/ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN G. LINCOLN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Ouyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Controllers, of whichthe fol- V lowing is a full, clear, and exact description,

reference being had to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to brake-applying controllers primarily adapted foruse with railway-motors.

The object is to provide such an arrangemen t of controller-contacts andsuch connections that the brake may-be applied instantly without waitingfor the field to build up from the armature-current and also that thecar may be held on a grade after the motors have practically ceased togenerate.

I accomplish these results by using the trolley-current to excite thefields of the motors when the brake is first applied and by letting suchcurrent flow through the brake after the motors have ceased revolving;and the invention consists of a controller and such connections thatthese objects, or either of them, are attain ed more particularly ashereinafter described.

The drawing represents diagrammatically mycontroller adapted to applythe brake when the car is running either forward or backward, a pair ofmotors, suitable governing resistances, and brake-shoes.

My controller is independent of the governing-controller of the motors,being simply connected by branch lines from the lines leading to thegoverning-controller. It is shown with five positions in each directionfrom the 0d position, successive positions cutting out resistance.

The reference characters F FF F FF represent the lines leading to andfrom the fields of the first and second motors, respectively, and thecharacters A AA A AA represent the corresponding armature-lines. R to Rindicate the lines to the governing resistance, T the line to thetrolley, and B the line to the brake-shoes. P to? indicate thecontactplates of the movable body, which are adapted to engage with thefingers to which the above-mentioned terminals are connected.

As shown in the diagram, the controller is at the off position,everything is discoun eeted, and the car is operated by thegoverning-controller as if there were no brake system pres- N ent. Ifthe car is running forward and if it is desired to apply the brake, thegoverningcontroller is turned off and the brake-controller is turned tobring the contact-fingers into the line designated 1 in the right-handsystem of contact-plates P to P". The current from the trolley thenflows through the reducing resistance via the line T to the plate P Fromhereit passes to the line FF around the field of the motor No. 1 to theline F, to plate P to the line FF around the field of motor No. 2 to theline F toplate P, to the line B, and through the brakeshoes to theground G. The brake-shoes are electromagnets, which may (directly orindirectly, as de sirable) grasp the track or the wheel. The reducedtrolley-current thus instantly applies the brake and at the same timeenergizes the fields of the motors. The motors thus become at oncestrong generators, and a current flows from their armatures as follows:starting with the brake-shoes, through the resistance to themotor-current, through the line B to the contact-plate P to the line AAthrough the armature of the motor No. 2 to .the line A contact-plate Pto the line AA,

and through the armature of motor No. 1 to the line A. This line is incontact with the plate P and the armature-current joins with thetrolley-current from there toward the round Gf'flowing through thefields of the two motorsand the brake-shoes. The revolving armature thusgenerates current, which not only additionally excites its field andcauses the brake-shoes to grasp harder, but also tends to retard thearmature, and thus the car. The currents from the armature and trolleyare flowing in the same direction, as indicated by the arrows, and thetrolley-current reduced by resistance is not sufficient to counteractthe electromotive force of the armature, and although the ohmicresistance of the path through the armatures to the ground is less thanthrough the fields the counter electromotive force of the armaturesrevolving even at slow speed prevents the reduced trolley-current takingthe former path.

A movement of the controller to positions 2,-

3, and 4, respectively, simply cuts out portions of the resistancethrough which the armature current flows, thus allowing that current tobrake with sufficient force, notwithstanding the continually-retardedvelocity of the armature. When the controller, however, is thrown intoposition No. 5, the re sistance to the motor-current is entirely outout, and this reduces the resistance ofthe path through the armatures tothe ground G, and the electromotive force of the armatures dying down asthey come to rest the trolleycurrent would more than counteract thatelectromotive force and flow through the armatures to the ground, andthus cease to energize the brake-shoes. To obviate this, I disconnectthis armature-line from the trolley at this fifth position. The terminalA thus passes off the plate P onto the plate P which is electricallyconnected with the plate P and this short-circuits the a'rmatures uponthemselves, bringing them to a sudden stop. At the same time the reducedtrolley-current is left flowing through the brake-shoe, which holds thebrake in engagement while the car is stopped. This is an importantfeature, as

ceased running the trolley-current holds the brake-shoes in engagement.

Having described my invention, I claim- 1. The combination, with asource of electricity, an electric motor and a brake-magnet, of acontroller adapted to connect the motor through the brake-magnet togenerate current and apply the brake and adapted also to connect thecurrent from said source through the brake-magnet and field-coils,substantially as described.

2. The combination with a motor, abrakemagnet, and a source ofcurrent-supply, of a controller adapted to close the motor through thebrake-magnet in such direction that its movement generates current, andadapted to connect the independent source of supply through saidbrake-magnet and field-coils at the same time that the motor-cnrrentisflowing through them, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a series-wound motor and an independentsourceof currentsupply, of a controller adapted to close the motor on itselfand adapted to direct current from said independent source through thesame series field of such motor which energizes it in running at thesame time that the armature-current from the motor as a generator isflowing through that field, whereby the motor-current may instantlyapplythe brake without waiting to build itself up, but after built upenergizes its field, substantially \m ain brake-applying force.

It allows the car to remain on a grade and not gradually run down, ashas heretofore been the case if electric brakes only have held it. Theamount of trolley-current which is used is only sufficient to hold thebrake when the car has stopped or to energize the fields at thebeginning, the current generated by the motors themselves being reliedon for the If the trolley should be disconnected, the brake may still beapplied, though it will not then operate as promptly.

The left-hand portion of the diagram shows the arrangement of thecontact-plates for applying the brake when the car is running backward.The plates P P P connect the fields, as when the car is running forward,and the plate P operates to cut out the resistance in the same manner asthe plate P but the plates P P P P direct the current through, thearmatures in the reverse direction, the positive armature-terminal(which is now AA) being connected, as before, with the trolley and fieldterminals. At position 5 the trolley-current is disconnected by thebreak in the plate P while the plate P which engages with thearmature-terminal AA, is connected with the plate P engaging with thearmature-terminal A whereby the two armatures are short-circuited uponthemselves, as before. Thus whichever direction the car is running whenthe brake is first applied the trolley-current throws it im-.

mediately into action, and after the car has as described.

4.. The combination, with a series-wound motor and an independent sourceof current adapted to drive said motor, of a controller adaptedto'c'losethe motor on itself and adapted to direct the current from saidindependent source through the main field of such mo tor, and anartificial resistance in the path of The current from such source to thefield of the motor whereby the reduced current from the driving sourcecauses the motor-current to instantly build up when closed as abrakewithout interfering with the motor-current energizing its fieldwhen built up, substantially as described. I

5. The combination, with a motor having all its fields in series and anindependent source of current-supply,of a controller adapted to closethe motor on itself, and adapted to direct the current from saidindependent source through the field of such motor, an artificialresistance constant through an operation of braking-in the circuit fromthe source of supply to the controller, and a variable resistanceinserted in the motor-circuit by the controller, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination, with a motor, a brakemagnet, and a source ofcurrent-supply, of a controller which closes the motor through thebrake-magnet and field-coils and through a governing resistance in suchdirection that the momentum of the car causes it to act as a brake andalso connects the trolley-current through the brake-magnet when themotors have come to rest whereby the car may hold on a grade,substantially as described.

7. The combination with a motor and governing resistance and a source ofcurrent-s11 pply, of a controller having a plurality of positions thefirst of which directs both the trolley-cu rrent and the armature-current through the fields of the motor, theintermediate ones of which cutgoverning resistance out of the armaturecircuit and the final one ofwhich causes the armature to be disconnected from the field-circuit butleaves the trolley-current flowing through the field, substantially asdescribed.

8. The combination with a motor, asource of current-supply, and abrake-magnet, of a brake-applying controller which at each positionconnects the current from the source of supply through the fields of themotor and the brake-magnet, and which closes the armature on diiferentcircuits, that at the beginning of the operation being through aresistance, the fields and the brake-magnet, then the resistance beingsuccessively cut out, and then the armature being disconnected from thefields, substantially as described.

9. In a brake-applying controller for electric railways, a set ofcontact-fingers and two sets of contact-plates, one for use when the caris run forward, the other when it is run backward, said plates being soarranged and connected that one set closes the motors in the reversedirection from the other, each set having a position where the armaturesare disconnected from the fields at which position the source of supplyis connected through said fields whereby the car will beheldelectrically on a grade in either direction, substantially as described.

10. The combination, in a controller, of three contact-fingers which areterminals, first, of an armature of amotor; second, of a source ofcurrent-supply for the motor, and third, of a field of a motor, and aconductor movable relatively to said contact-fingers and adapted at oneposition to connect them all three together whereby current from thesource of supply and the armature-current may flow through the fields,said controller having another position Where the electric conductorconnects the field and source of current but disconnects thearmature-terminal, substantially as described.

11. The combination, with three contactfingers which are terminals,first,from 2. ourrent-supply; second,fro m the field of a motor, and,third, from the armature of such motor, of a movable conductor having aplurality of positions where it engages with said threecontact-fingers,but having one position Where it does not engage withsaid armature-terminal, and means for connecting the armature in suchmanner that the momentum shall generate current reaching said conductorin the same direction as the current from the source-of-supply terminal,substantially as described. 7

12. The herein-described means for braking by a series-wound motorwithout an extra field provided for braking, which consists of thecombination of such motor, a conductor from a source of current-supply,a reducing resistance therefor, means for directing the current fromsaid conductor through such resistance and through the ordinary field ofthe motor, and means for directing the current produced by the motor asa generator through such field, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JOHN C. LINCOLN.

Witnesses:

H. M. WISE, ALBERT H. BATES.

